My initial review of this book was all of four words: "Bring back Michael Martin!" However, since I'm well aware that doesn't do the book justice, I will make an attempt to throw a few sentences together in a way that best describes my experience. But where to begin? Should I cover the extra-long descriptions of things that were totally unnecessary, or should I mention how I covered my face with embarrassment as certain characters went well beyond their norm and did things that were totally against their character, such as making ship-wide advertisements of their physical ailments?

If you are a fan of Enterprise and devoured Michael Martin's books on the Romulan War, then rushed out to pick up Choice of Futures, thinking it was going to continue from where the others left off, you're rushing out for the wrong reasons. This series needed more on the War and less of a jump from the Romulans into ... whatever this was. Don't get me wrong, A Choice of Futures is full of memorable moments from the series that fans will enjoy, but that is basically the entire premise of the book. It was like the author was given a challenge: How many scenes from the TV show can you throw into one 336 page novel and still manage a pinch of plot? I was eager to settle down with my favorite series, not relive episodes I could watch on DVD.

What little bit of a new plot that was there, scattered among the lengthy, useless uniform and ship descriptions (Who's going to pick up this book and not already know enough about Star Trek to know that stuff?) was all right and somewhat interesting. I couldn't say that the character development went too far, in fact, it might have gone backwards, but at least said characters are recognizable and somewhat back together again. I did like that they had moved on in their careers, even if it does seem a little soon for some. As a work of fanfiction, this wouldn't have been too disappointing, as a novel, it made me wish I wasn't so addicted to the series that I was literally desperate for anything "official."

My heart rose when I saw the note at the end "will continue Spring 2014." It sank when I realized who the author would be. At this point, my only hope for enjoyment of the rest of the series is that someone will study the previous books a little more to find out what works and remember that the readers picking up any Enterprise novels are already fans of the series. We don't need hand holding, we just need a visit with our favorite characters and another great story. ( )